"When I was a yoot..."

[Skol303]

[i]"…I used to burn collie weed in a rizzla, 
I use to burn it in a rizzla."

[/i]

Which probably explains why I flunked maths and ultimately ended up making this track - a drill'n'bass, junglish, Squarepushery (?) little number that borrows the aforementioned vocal lick and others from 'Hard Times' by reggae star Pablo Gad.

Whether you like to burn it in a rizla, rub it in a chalwa or simply prefer a nice cup of tea and an episode of Columbo, have a listen and let me know what you think.

Cheers m' dears!

http://soundcloud.com/skollob

PS: I actually [b]do[/b] play some bass on this track (rather than just programming stuff and twiddling knobs). Yes, some actual bass playing. Not much mind you...

Edited May 31, 2012 by Skol303

[Roland Rock]

Link?

[Skol303]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338420984' post='1674507']
Link?
[/quote]

Doh!... fixed

[Roland Rock]

Hard Times - there are a lot of SP moments in there (Did you have "My Red Hot Car" on heavy rotation perchance? ), with a bit of old school jungle/garage(?) moments which I'm not so keen on.

Squeeze (first version) - Love it - the Dr Who sample fits in brilliantly, love the dialogue, the mood, tempo, the buildup.

Butterfly Effect - I'm big into dub/reggae, and like the way it morphs into DnB

Say - nice vocals, fantastic synth bass

Love Superhero - If that's Dubstep, then I like dubstep!

Haitian Fight Song - I'm not sure if it's enough of a departure from the Mingus song for me to not want to just listen to the original instead. After a few more listens maybe. I tend to like very different covers (as subtlety is not my strong point)

Hypnomatics - Well, aren't you just full of surprises! That's exactly the type of dirty funky hiphop I love. A bit Roots/Edan/Jurrasic 5. Super

Starry Eyed - Not a fan of the original, but you do an alright job of guilding the turd.

Poker Face - I like the idea of Radio Gaga being sampled, but it doesn't do it for me.

Overall, you are a talented man! The diversity is huge and there's a lot of great ideas and sounds in there. I'd buy an album.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Roland Rock

[Skol303]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Hard Times - there are a lot of SP moments in there (Did you have "My Red Hot Car" on heavy rotation perchance? ), with a bit of old school jungle/garage(?) moments which I'm not so keen on.[/quote]

Yup you're bang on the money there... "My Red Hot Car" was definitely playing on repeat at the back of my mind while working on this track! The jungle influence comes from my misspent youth as a raver - I'm a sucker for an Amen break

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Squeeze (first version) - Love it - the Dr Who sample fits in brilliantly, love the dialogue, the mood, tempo, the buildup.[/quote]

Cheers, that's really good to hear! This is probably my fave of the bunch - it never really had a soild plan behind it from start to finish, but despite (or because of?) that it turned out ok I think. The Dr Who sample was one of those lightbulb moments. I'd been trying to synthesise the sound I had my head for ages, but then realised the Radiophonic Workshop had got there long before me.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Butterfly Effect - I'm big into dub/reggae, and like the way it morphs into DnB [/quote]

Yeah I'm a huge dub/reggae fan too. This one was an entry into a remix competition. I really like Lamb (even met them a few times in the past when they lived in Manchester!) and wanted to do something very different to the original track. I think I achieved that at least!

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Say - nice vocals, fantastic synth bass [/quote]

Another remix competition entry! The vocals are by a British artist called Olivia Broadfield: http://oliviabroadfield.com/

The original is great and pretty much impossible to better in my opion; so I just tried something a bit quirky. The bassline is a composite of something like half a dozen individual synths that I programmed and then layered with some fiddly EQing. It shakes the coffee mug on my desk when I crank it up, which is usually a good sign

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Love Superhero - If that's Dubstep, then I like dubstep! [/quote]

Yet another remix competition entry! I used this as an opportunity to work out the whole wobbly dubstep bass thing... glad you like it! The mix needs a bit of work to fatten it up but I was quite pleased with how it turned out.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Haitian Fight Song - I'm not sure if it's enough of a departure from the Mingus song for me to not want to just listen to the original instead. After a few more listens maybe. I tend to like very different covers (as subtlety is not my strong point) [/quote]

Completely agree! I got a bit obsessed with Charles Mingus for a while (still am) and love a good upright bass riff, although this is bascially just a poor cover. Aside from the bass, all the instrumentation was sampled from various musicians' home YouTube videos. I was inspired to plunder YouTube after listening to this guy, who I believe is a genius - http://thru-you.com/#/intro/

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Hypnomatics - Well, aren't you just full of surprises! That's exactly the type of dirty funky hiphop I love. A bit Roots/Edan/Jurrasic 5. Super
[/quote]

Glad you dig it! The riff was the result of jamming at home and it seemed to fit the Biggie/Mos Def raps just right, so I went with it. Amazingly...I think!... this track was about 99% produced on just an iPhone, and really opened my eyes to what can be done on mobile tech these days. That's coming from someone who once thought writing 'SHELLOIL' and 'BOOBLESS' on a calculator was cool

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Starry Eyed - Not a fan of the original, but you do an alright job of guilding the turd. [/quote]

Ha ha, nicely put! She's a Hereford lass... I'm a Herefordian by birth... I felt it would have been unpatriotic not to have had a dabble!

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Poker Face - I like the idea of Radio Gaga being sampled, but it doesn't do it for me. [/quote]

Yeah... this was one of those "I wonder if..." moments that went a bit too far!

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1338471051' post='1675073']
Overall, you are a talented man! The diversity is huge and there's a lot of great ideas and sounds in there. I'd buy an album.
[/quote]

Cheers Roland, that's kind feedback and very encouraging to hear. I'd love to flog you an album but I fear the copyright police would lock me up for a very long time! Serously though, many thanks for lending your ear to it and giving such useful comment. Appreciated